Butterfly Boucher

Scary Fragile

(Nettwerk)

Record Review by Kevan Peterson

Butterfly Boucher sounds like a cool name for a band, but is in fact the actual birth name of this Australian singer/songwriter. On her second outing, Scary Fragile, Butterfly Boucher delivers a set of catchy rock songs, after a reportedly hard road with the labels.  Having stopped and started her career more times than a butterfly would normally flap its wings, she has finally found peace in her second albums release.  Breezing through multiple labels on her way, Scary Fragile comes to record stores after the first released track “A Bitter Song,” now the albums closer, found a fan base while making it’s debut on TV show Grey’s Anatomy.

The album starts off with “I Found Out,” a keep it simple, high energy song, utilizing fuzzed out guitars which run counter to Buttefly’s tame vocals.  The opener also runs counter to some of the stronger songs on the album such as the title track “Scary Fragile,” which plays more to her strengths, using melancholy guitar and harmonized vocals to achieve the sound of heartbreaking sentimentality.  Butterfly Boucher tends to work best when embracing the restraints of rock, rather than trying to work against them.  This is showcased best in “Gun for a Tongue,” the stand out track on the album, using keys and synthesized strings to drive a dramatic beat.

Butterfly Boucher won’t fly off the shelves, but she does show splotches of color and promise.  Not quite as elusive as the rare Queen Alexandra butterfly, but also not quite as common as your literal garden variety Monarch butterfly, Boucher finds herself straddling the space between relevant and familiar.